Port St Mary continued their impressive run in week five of the Isle of Man Rifle Association league with a hard-fought away win over Douglas.

The southerners triumphed 484-479, in a match shot on the one-spot electronic targets at the Sinclair Range in St John’s.

Last season’s individual champion, Ben Kelly, was the top scorer of the night with 98, while Hayden East, Port St Mary’s leading junior, also impressed with 96.

Elsewhere, Laxey took a commanding victory over visitors Castletown, 488–473, with Harry Creevy, Adrian Cowin, and Andrew Jessop all scoring 98.

Jessop, who clearly prefers the traditional 10-spot targets, joked that he was glad not to have to worry about pressing the match button during an electronic shoot.

At Sulby, the home team’s top shooters Orry Teare and Mark Cain both posted 97s, while Sandsiders’ Jean Quaye continued her fine run of form with 96.

Division One:

Douglas v Port St Mary

Dave Humphrey 97 Ben Kelly 98

Sam Jones 97 Donna Gardner 97

Christian Eaton 97 Tom Pirson 97

Dave Kneale 96 Ashley Gardner 96

Mark Osborn 92 Hayden East (Jr) 96

Total 479 Total 484

Laxey v Castletown

Harry Creevy 98 Trevor Taubman 96

Andrew Jessop 98 Richard Arthur 95

Adrian Cowin 98 Robin McFee 94

Gemma Kermode 97 Rhian Masson 94

John Wood 97 John Brewis 94

Total 488 Total 473

Sulby v Sandsiders

Orry Teare 97 Jean Quaye 96

Mark Cain 97 Steve Callus 94

Pete Faragher 96 Ian Kneale 91

Julian Teare 95 Kath Barrett 89

Mark Boyde 95 Phil Kneen 83

Total 480 Total 453

Division Two

Douglas v Port St Mary

Sharon Christian 91 Derek Kermode 95

Sam Cartwright 81 Les Crowe 94

Callum Grant 94

Luke Ennett 94

Ean Brewis 94

Total 172 Total 471

Laxey v Castletown

Stephen Curphey 86 John-Paul Bridson 92

Steve Gardner 92

Neil Masson 90

Duncan Watterson 90

Andrew Bell 84

Total 86 Total 448

Sulby v Sandsiders

Peter Webb 92 Julie Quaye 81

Tom Radcliffe (Jr) 89 Terry Green 75

Will Fenton (Jr) 89

Lizzie Radcliffe (Jr) 87

Darren Smith 85

Total 442 Total 156

Division Three

Port St Mary (Walkover)

Joseph Proffitt (Jr) 94

Josh Stewart 92

Kevan Kneale 91

Bree Cubbon (Jr) 88

Sophie Weldon (Jr) 82

Total 447

Sulby (Walkover)

Bob Radcliffe (Jr) 83

Justine McQueen 80

Total 163

After their latest victory, Port St Mary now sit two points clear at the top of Division One.

Sulby continue to perform well and will look to challenge the defending champions across all three divisions next week when they head south.

Douglas will hope to bounce back at Castletown, while Laxey, who are posting the kind of scores that win titles, take their scheduled bye week. —

JP BRIDSON